Now they're blaming the IT guys for the deleted texts.

[Baitball Blogger]

Tuned into Morning Joe in the morning and should have written about it then, but I was still half asleep. The comments still lingered, so here is what I caught:

There were two guests on the show and one of the men was saying that it was just government procedure to delete texts once someone leaves a job. If no one told the IT guys to desist, they would have just innocently done their jobs. Nothing nefarious. He came out and defended the Secret Service insisting that they were apolitical and they wouldn't have had a dog in this fight. (No one believes that) But that the DoD and Homeland Security were appointed positions and deserves a stronger look.

What I thought was odd was that Mica did not do follow-up questions. Like the fact that there was a subpoena request for the texts, just days after J6. And that it was unlikely that ALL the SS men quit within the last year.

It's just fishy. The man stank of Damage Control tripe, but no follow-ups.

[Ocelot II]

1. Next they'll blame the dog for eating the data.

[Lochloosa]

2. Or it was flushed

[lostnfound]

4. Down trumps gold toilet

[sop]

3. The Secret Service used to be "apolitical," then Trump removed Director Alles and put in Murray.

[Phoenix61]

5. That's true. It isn't IT's job to back up text on a phone.

It would be the device’s user as they would be the only one to know which texts constituted a record and which ones didn’t. Once IT gets a device it’s wipe and reissue time. Anybody who worked there would have known that. Forgetting to alert IT seems beyond incompetent.

[Novara]

27. I would assume that IT people in the federal government ...

... would be aware of the records retention policy and there would be some sort of standard protocol to make sure everything was backed up prior to wiping anybody's phone. They should be called to testify. Is there protocol and if so, what was done on their part to safeguard any information prior to wiping the phones?

In other words, did they ask people if their phones were backed up and did they lie and say the data was properly archived? That would put the IT people in the clear and then we're left with the coverup.

[Phoenix61]

30. That's not been my experience.

You turn your electronics in when out processing. It’s on you to ensure everything gets backed up/filed etc. I took a records management class every single year along with a bunch of other annual training. It was a contract position with the USAF but GS had to take the same classes and followed the same protocols.

[Novara]

39. Nobody asked you if it was done?

Nobody checked?

Especially for people in cabinet positions??

[Phoenix61]

40. It was assumed when you turned your stuff in

you had followed the rules. The assumption was we were professional adults. I would think that would especially apply to people in cabinet positions.

[Novara]

45. I would assume the opposite, frankly

Especially with the morons that orange motherfucker appointed.

[RobinA]

43. Ummmm...

You've never worked for government, have you?

[Srkdqltr]

6. Do they really want to tick off the IT guys? Their electronics may never work right again.

[Tommy Carcetti]

7. Did they try turning it off and back on again?

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Best comedy ever!

[Lemon Lyman]

26. :-)

Hey! Richmond's still alive!

[Ohio Joe]

9. I've worked several security clearance jobs with the government

Both employed by the government and as a contractor (or a company doing work for the govt). Each time, when I left or the job was done, all devices I gave back were wiped that same day. It has been a standard since my first work with the government back in '01.

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Don't you think that's odd, given that government information is

subject to strict rules when it comes to saving data?

[Ohio Joe]

15. Not really...

Data retention gets done a bit differently for different devices. To the heart of the matter... Phones and text messages... These were backed up server side. So once the text was sent, that is where the backup happened. You could delete texts off your phone all you wanted but they still existed on the server backup.

When I was working with Level 3 on WITS/Networx (later EIS) for the government, I got easily 2 dozen texts a day that were pointless for me... They concerned my team (we all got the same ones) but not my job specifically, so I deleted them all the time. At one point, my phone broke and when I got the new one, ALL my texts had been restored... Freakin thousands of these useless texts, going back several years... All back on my new phone.

This is what has me thinking something is odd. Those backups are automatic... If they are gone, someone did a lot of work to go in there and delete them... They needed clearance and there should be digital finger prints showing who it was... This is where the focus of investigation should be... If the backups are gone, who went in and did it? That is the person we want to find and talk to.

[Baitball Blogger]

16. So, someone wiped the server?

That would seem like an egregious security failure.

[Lochloosa]

18. And a felony.

[Ohio Joe]

20. I'm unsure to be honest...

I've read a bunch of articles and I often see inconsistent terms being used... Even differing or incompatible terms being used. Articles are written by non-IT people who talked to non-IT people so... I have many questions.

It does appear to be more selective than a server wipe or backup wipe (backups are usually on different media than a server), where only certain people had data deleted for certain dates... That is intent if what I think is happening happened... Like I said though... I have many questions.

[Phoenix61]

42. I'm curious how a text message was backed up on a server.

Do you know what software they were using to interface between the cell phone and your backup device?

[Ohio Joe]

44. As best I understand it...

And keep in mind, this is not something I worked on or supported, I was just a user... Everything went through company or govt systems before it hit your phone, so it was saved then.

So the travel path would be something about like - Sender - phone company - Company or Govt systems - Receiver.

[Phoenix61]

46. That's not possible.

The cell phone signal bounces off the cell companies’ towers then to your phone. The government would have to have its own system or all calls to government phones would have to go to them first then back to the cell company. Again not possible.

[Ohio Joe]

47. Not my area of expertise...

That is just how I understood it. I do know for certain, all texts were backed up. As I related above:

When I was working with Level 3 on WITS/Networx (later EIS) for the government, I got easily 2 dozen texts a day that were pointless for me... They concerned my team (we all got the same ones) but not my job specifically, so I deleted them all the time. At one point, my phone broke and when I got the new one, ALL my texts had been restored... Freakin thousands of these useless texts, going back several years... All back on my new phone.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216996375#post15

I know how someone explained it to me, I do not know for certain how each shop does it or if what the person described was accurate. I do know for certain, texts deleted on my phone, were still recoverable.

[Phoenix61]

48. I'm not doubting the texts came back I'm just

curious the mechanics of how that happened.

[ok_cpu]

14. Do device wiped or re-imaged and all data unavailable mean the same thing? n/t

[Ohio Joe]

19. So... Kind of...

A device wipe can be done several ways. The most effective IMO, is what we used to call a low level format. This takes the storage media... Essentially the 'hard drive' and re-writes over every bit on it with 0's. Anything that was on it is gone forever and cannot be recovered. There are other ways just as effective and others less so but all commonly called device wipe.

Re-imaging is where you have a static copy of all of the software a given device might need for someone walking in the door to begin work with that device. This gets copied onto the device before it is handed to the new person. Data that previously existed on the device may still be recoverable depending on if it was wiped first or not and how that was done.

Data unavailable... I'm not sure of the context here but... In general, whenever data is unavailable, it is because the data cannot be found by the program requesting it. This could be for a variety of reasons. Maybe it was deleted by the user or maybe you are pointing to the wrong place... Think of it like this... You create word documents and always save them in the same folder on an external drive. If you disconnect the external drive, the data still exists but is unavailable because it cannot find the drive... Make sense?

[ok_cpu]

37. Thank you. That helps.

"Data unavailable" probably wasn't as clear as it could have been. If / when I leave a job, my devices get wiped or re-imaged and given to a new user very quickly.

But, I don't think for one second that means my messages and activity can't be retrieved.

[Deminpenn]

36. Thank you

I'm retired federal civil service. Once cell phones became common, my DoD activity delegated management of the phones to one of the command support offices. The phones were from AT&T and AT&T sent a monthly bill of all calls to the person managing the phones. Once the phone was turned it, it was cleaned and either issued to a new person or replaced with a newer model.

If the J6 committee or GJ wants to know who was texting or calling who and when, all they need do is get the monthly detailed bill. The cell provider would have all those records and whoever was managing the phones for the gov't should have them, too.

FTR, all computer-based files including email, were backed up daily. None of those records were lost.

[unblock]

10. I call bs. Employers and governments need to keep a copy of communications

For various reasons. For example, an employee who left may later sue, and the texts, emails, etc., may be important evidence for the defense. An employee would be quite foolish to destroy such evidence.g

Yes, a work device might get wiped and repurposed, but not until the data was backed up.

Small companies may skip this step and take their chances, but big companies and governments should be very disciplined about this.

[Botany]

12. So the same IT persons worked at the DoJ, Homeland Security, the Secret Service, and the White House

n/t

[Baitball Blogger]

13. Right?

[Botany]

17. Jeff speks for me.

Link to tweet

[RANDYWILDMAN]

22. plus +1

[Kid Berwyn]

23. Me too.

Traitors or “seditious conspirators,” I don’t care what they’re called, have no business running free.

[DENVERPOPS]

28. Yea

and it was the same secretary that transcribed the infamous Nixon white house tapes......LOLOLOL

[Botany]

38. Were they working out of Dick Cheney's office where the knew where the WMDs were hiding in Iraq?

n/t

[ashredux]

21. Yep...the guy gets handed a phone by his BOSS and told to delete all...

So, throw HIM in jail…..sorry, the Boss goes to jail

[3825-87867]

24. More than Human ashes?

In a grave in NJ?

[Traildogbob]

25. Just the start of

GQP lawyer blame game. Lots of Michael Cohens will go to jail instead of trump.

[jsabrown]

29. They best be careful...

...where they point fingers; the IT guys just might take a notion to find those deleted texts.

[Baitball Blogger]

33. One can hope.

[NullTuples]

41. Not if it's the same IT people (not all are guys, btw)...

They'll need to CYA that they deleted the backups; finding them would reveal it.

[keithbvadu2]

31. What if the IT guys made a copy for their own protection?

What if the IT guys made a copy for their own protection?

Is it only those specific, critical days missing on the devices?

[Baitball Blogger]

32. Good question.

If it involved only those two days all these excuses are a tremendous gaslight campaign.

[kiranon]

34. Believe some of them kept the records on another platform.

Either to use for nefarious purposes or to save themselves later. Just don't believe the texts are not available to some of the individuals. Fire everyone who cannot produce the texts and that includes Court Martial's for those in the military.

[Behind the Aegis]

35. Good! Piss of the IT personnel!

Let's see if those texts suddenly reemerge! I am married to an IT man, trust me, it isn't IT doing the deleting, they (IT professionals) are the ones they (the users) call...at all hours of the day, during all days of the year, to find their (the users) lost data, that they (the asshole users) LOST usually because of something stupid they (the asshole users) did!